Is the NFL ready for some NBA problems?

Despite all the chit-chat, “superteams” are not bad for the NBA. Look at one of the most successful eras of the NBA, the 1980s, and you saw nothing but five superteams every year in the Finals. The Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics or Detroit Pistons faced either the Los Angeles Lakers or Houston Rockets every year of that decade. Contrary to popular belief, stacked teams loaded with future Hall of Famers are not bad for the game of basketball.

What is bad for the NBA? Tanking. Nothing undermines the integrity of a sport more than teams actively trying not to win games. At least superteams are built with the intent to claim championships.

Unfortunately, the awful trend of tanking might be making its way into the NFL.

In a recent appearance on ESPN’s “Mike and Mike,” former Indianapolis Colts GM and current NFL analyst Bill Polian discussed the issue:

“The thing that worries me is that the Browns essentially tanked the season last year and no one said — except a few of us — said anything about it. And it may well be that this is something that can spread around the league, and I don’t think that’s good for the sport in the long run. Because in the end it robs the customers of the chance to see a competitive team.”

While nobody should blame players when a team isn’t trying its hardest to win, the same cannot be said about front offices. It’s almost hard to blame NFL front offices for trying to tank. Almost.

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After the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, there is no commodity more valuable in the NFL than a quality draft pick, save for perhaps a franchise quarterback. Nailing a draft pick gives the team several years of a cost-controlled player.

Unearthing Russell Wilson in the third round of the draft had two huge benefits for the Seahawks. First and foremost, they found a really talented quarterback. But just as important, by finding him in the third round, the Seahawks were paying him a fraction of his actual worth in comparison with other franchise quarterbacks. That allowed them to spend lavishly on some marquee free agents, spurring them to a Super Bowl win in 2013. The Cowboys are in a similar situation with fourth-round pick Dak Prescott.

And while a first-round pick is obviously more expensive than a third- or fourth-rounder, in the case of a player such as Andrew Luck or J.J. Watt, the team is still employing a player worth far more than what he’s being paid on a rookie contract.

Perhaps more worrying is that, as The Ringer’s Kevin Clark points out, the NFL may not be built to sustain tanking teams. A team being gifted several wins over the course of 80 to 100 games (such as in the NBA, MLB or NHL) is negligible. An NFL team being gifted, say, four wins? It’s already halfway to a realistic playoff berth without earning it.

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The Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and (to a far lesser extent) Cincinnati Bengals are well-run organizations. But don’t tell me that having the perennially putrid Cleveland Browns in their division hasn’t helped their win totals and playoff seedings.

Do the reigning world champion New England Patriots really need a blatantly tanking New York Jets team in their division? The Jets could barely field a competent NCAA football team right now. What if the Buffalo Bills decide that they need USC quarterback Sam Darnold and start tanking too? The Patriots and Miami Dolphins would be spoon-fed four wins apiece. That’s a free quarter of the NFL season.

Make no mistake, between the cost-controlled value of draft picks and the number of bad teams rebuilding, tanking is going to be a problem in the NFL. It’s only incentivized because the NFL rewards draft picks based solely on win-loss records. If you’re going to miss the playoffs anyway, why win six games and pick 10th when you can win one game and pick first?

The Jets have been so blatantly hemorrhaging talent (with the recent cuts of still-effective Eric Decker and David Harris, while not being saddled with cap problems) that calling them the worst roster in the last decade might be generous.

The Cleveland Browns have been tanking for several years. The Jets are tanking now. The Buccaneers essentially threw a game in 2014 when they were leading 20-7 so they could draft Jameis Winston.

The NBA’s biggest problem is now squarely on the NFL’s doorstep. Roger Goodell has his work cut out for him.